How Do Tolls Work With Rental Cars? Answered

Lindsey Desmet headshot Lindsey Desmet
Updated Dec 4, 2023
Rental car passing through a toll plaza in Florida

Short Answer — Most car rental agencies offer toll programs that allow you to either pass through tolls and pay after your rental period ends or prepay for unlimited tolls for a flat fee. Costs range from around $4 to $7 per usage day plus the toll cost for standard plans and $11 to $26 per day for unlimited tolls. You can also opt out of these plans and pay the tolls as you travel.

How Do Tolls Work With Rental Cars?

When you know you’ll be driving on toll roads while renting a car, you generally have a few options available: you can purchase a standard or unlimited toll plan or pay for the tolls yourself during your trip.

Standard toll plans generally require you to pay a convenience fee for each day you use toll roads, plus the cost of the toll itself.[1][2][3]

Unlimited toll passes allow you to pay one upfront fee for all of the tolls you incur during your trip.[2][4]

We contacted each of the major U.S. rental agencies and found that their toll plans are optional, meaning you can also opt out of the toll plans and pay any tolls yourself as you encounter them.

Fees

Fees for toll plans vary by the company and by the details of your plan.

In general, you can expect the fees to be within the following ranges:

  • Standard plans: $4 to $7 for each day you use toll roads, plus the cost of each toll[1][2][3]
  • Unlimited plans: $11 to $26 for each day you rent the car, which includes the cost of the tolls[2][4]
  • No toll plan: No additional fees, unless you incur unpaid tolls; unpaid tolls will require a processing fee or penalty of around $10 per day, plus the toll amount and any other fees billed to the rental agency.[5][6]

Equipment

Some toll roads require transponders; the rental agency may provide a transponder, allow you to rent one, or allow you to use your own.[7]

Other toll roads bill through license plate images, so you won’t need additional equipment.[7]

Payment

With prepaid, unlimited toll programs, you’ll typically pay one fee for all of your tolls at the same time that you pay for your rental, using your debit or credit card.[2][4]

If the rental agency doesn’t allow pre-payment, you’ll either receive an invoice or see the charges appear on the credit or debit card on file after your rental period ends.[1][2][3]

Many toll roads no longer accept cash,[7] but if you opt out of the toll plans and encounter a toll road that allows cash payments, you can also pay that way.

Without a toll plan, it’s best to keep receipts showing you paid each toll in case the tolling authority sends any incorrect amounts owed to the rental agency.

Toll Programs by Company

Below, we list the toll programs available at each of the major U.S. car rental agencies.

We gathered this information by viewing each company’s toll policy documentation and contacting rental location representatives to confirm policy details.

ACE Rent a Car

  • Toll program: Varies by location; most locations don’t offer prepaid toll programs.[8][9]
  • Participating areas: Select locations in Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Puerto Rico[9][10]
  • Cost: Varies by location and toll program; anywhere from $7 to $15 per day or $35 to $90 over the course of the rental agreement[9][10]
  • Payment processing: Depending on the location and toll program, you may be able to pay for a toll pass at the same time you pay for your rental, or you may receive an invoice after your rental ends.[9][10]
  • Find a rental

Alamo Rent a Car

  • Toll program: TollPass[1]
  • Participating areas: Northeastern U.S., Chicago metropolitan area, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, Washington State, Puerto Rico, and Ontario[1]
  • Cost:
    • $4 to $5 for each day you use the toll roads, with a maximum fee of $30 per rental period, plus the amount of each toll[1]
    • Around $4 to $5 per day for transponder rental (required at some locations)[1]
    • In the Chicago area, you can pay a single fee of about $8 to $11 per rental day, covering both the transponder rental and all of the tolls you incur during the rental period.[11]
  • Payment processing: Charged to your debit or credit card on file within four to six weeks (once the rental agency receives the usage data from the toll authority)[1]
  • Find a Rental

Avis Rent a Car

  • Toll program: e-Toll and e-Toll Unlimited[2]
  • Participating areas: East Coast (from Maine to North Carolina), plus the Chicago area, California, Colorado, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, and Puerto Rico[2]
  • Cost:
    • About $6 for each day on which you incur a toll with standard e-Toll service; there is a maximum fee of about $30 per rental period, plus the amount of each toll.[2]
    • $11 to $26 per rental day for e-Toll unlimited, with a maximum fee of $55 to $130 per week (depending on the location); includes the service fee and unlimited tolls[2]
  • Payment processing: Billed to your credit or debit card on file within about four to eight weeks after the end of your rental[2]
  • Find a rental

Budget logo

Budget

  • Toll program: e-Toll and e-Toll Unlimited[12]
  • Participating areas: Northeastern U.S., Chicago area, California, Colorado, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, and Puerto Rico[12]
  • Cost:
    • About $6 for each day you use toll roads with standard e-Toll service; maximum fee of about $30 per rental period, plus the amount of each toll[2]
    • $11 to $26 per rental day for e-Toll unlimited, with a maximum fee of $55 to $130 per week (depending on the location); includes the service fee and unlimited toll road use[2]
  • Payment processing: Billed to your payment method on file within about four to eight weeks after your rental ends[2]
  • Find a rental

Dollar Car Rental logo

Dollar Car Rental

  • Toll program: PlatePass All-Inclusive, which offers unlimited toll road usage throughout the rental period for one daily rate[5]
  • Participating areas: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Washington, and the Northeastern U.S.[13]
  • Cost: Varies by state;[13] if you don’t enroll in PlatePass but still incur unpaid tolls, you’ll pay a fee of about $10 for each day you use toll roads, plus the highest, undiscounted toll amount.[6]
  • Payment processing: PlatePass charges will appear on your regular rental receipt. Without PlatePass, any tolls you incur will be billed to your credit card on file within about one to three weeks after your rental ends.[13]
  • Find a rental

Enterprise logo

Enterprise Rent-A-Car

  • Toll program: TollPass[14]
  • Participating areas: Northeastern U.S., Chicago metropolitan area, Southern California, Golden Gate Bridge, Northern California Bay Area, Louisville, Colorado, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington State, Puerto Rico, and Ontario[14]
  • Cost:
    • About $4 to $5 for each day you use the toll road in most regions, with a maximum fee of $30 per rental period, plus the amount of each toll[15]
    • About $11 per rental day in the Chicago area, which includes a transponder and all of the tolls you incur during the rental period[16]
    • In some other areas, you’ll need to rent a transponder at an additional $4 to $5 for each day of the rental period.[15]
  • Payment processing: Tolls will appear on your debit or credit card statement within about four to six weeks after your rental, once the rental agency receives your toll data from the tolling authority.[15]
  • Find a rental

Fox Rent A Car Logo

Fox Rent A Car

  • Toll program: PlatePass All-Inclusive, which offers unlimited toll road usage throughout the rental period for one daily rate[17]
  • Participating areas: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Washington, and the Northeastern U.S.[13]
  • Cost: About $13 per rental day with a maximum of about $195;[18] if you don’t enroll in PlatePass but still incur unpaid tolls, you’ll pay an administrative fee of $40 per toll in addition to the amount of the toll.[17]
  • Payment processing: PlatePass charges will appear on your regular rental receipt. Without PlatePass, any tolls you incur will be billed to your credit card on file within about one to three weeks after your rental ends.[18][17]
  • Find a rental

Getaround logo

Getaround

  • Toll program: Getaround AutoToll[19]
  • Participating areas: All major electronic toll roads; every Getaround car is equipped with AutoToll.[19]
  • Cost: $2.50 processing fee plus the amount of the toll[19]
  • Payment processing: Charged to your credit card on file[19]
  • Find a rental

Hertz logo

Hertz

  • Toll program: PlatePass All-Inclusive, which offers unlimited toll usage throughout the rental period for one daily rate[5]
  • Participating areas: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Washington, and the Northeastern U.S.[13]
  • Cost: Varies by state;[13] if you don’t enroll but still incur unpaid tolls, you’ll pay a fee of about $10 per usage day, plus the cost of any tolls at their highest, undiscounted rate.[5]
  • Payment processing: PlatePass charges will appear on your rental receipt. If you don’t enroll and owe any toll charges, they’ll be billed to your credit card on file within about one to three weeks after your rental ends.[13]
  • Find a rental

National Car Rental logo

National Car Rental

  • Toll program: TollPass[20]
  • Participating areas: Northeastern U.S., Chicago metropolitan area, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, Washington, Puerto Rico, and Ontario[20]
  • Cost: 
    • About $4 to $5 for each day you use the toll road in most regions, with a maximum fee of $30 over the rental period, plus the amount of each toll[20]
    • About $11 per rental day in the Chicago area; this includes the transponder and all of the tolls you incur during the rental period.[20]
    • In some areas, you’ll need to rent a transponder at an additional $4 to $5 for each day of the rental period.[20]
  • Payment processing: You’ll pay all fees using your debit or credit card on file. Some charges will take four to six weeks to appear on your statement (after National receives the data from the toll authority).[20]
  • Find a rental

Payless Car Rental logo

Payless Car Rental

  • Toll program: e-Toll and e-Toll Unlimited[3]
  • Participating areas: Northeastern U.S., Chicago metropolitan area, California, Colorado, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, and Puerto Rico[3]
  • Cost:
    • About $7 for each day you use toll roads with standard e-Toll service; there is a maximum fee of about $35 per rental period, plus the amount of each toll.[3]
    • $11 to $26 per rental day for e-Toll unlimited; maximum fee of $55 to $130 per week, depending on the location; includes the service fee and unlimited toll road use[3]
  • Payment processing: Billed to the credit or debit card on file within about four to eight weeks after your rental ends[3]
  • Find a rental

Sixt logo

SIXT

  • Toll program: Express Tolls Unlimited, which covers all of your tolls with one flat rate and waives administrative fees; General Toll Service, which invoices you for each toll but also waives administrative fees, is available in the Northeast only.[21]
  • Participating areas: All states, as long as the toll road you plan to use isn’t cash-only[21]
  • Cost:
    • About $13 per day for Express Tolls Unlimited[4]
    • About $5 per day plus the cost of each toll for General Toll Service (available in the Northeastern U.S. only)[4]
    • If you don’t purchase toll service, SIXT will invoice you for every toll you pass through, plus a per-toll administrative fee of $5.[21]
  • Payment processing: You’ll select your toll package and pay the daily fee at the same time that you book your rental. With General Toll Service, you’ll later receive an invoice for the cost of the tolls themselves.[21]
  • Find a rental

Thrifty Car Rental logo

Thrifty Car Rental

  • Toll program: PlatePass All-Inclusive[22][13]
  • Participating areas: California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia[22]
  • Cost:
    • Varies by state; you’ll pay one daily rate for unlimited use of toll roads throughout your rental period. This rate includes transponder rental if the local toll roads require it.[13][22]
    • If you don’t opt-in to PlatePass or you drive on tollways that don’t work with PlatePass, and you fail to pay any tolls, you’ll incur a usage day fee of about $10, plus the cost of each toll and any other administrative charges.[22]
  • Payment processing: You’ll pay for PlatePass All-Incusive when you pay for your rental. If you opt out of all-inclusive service and owe toll road fees, they should appear on your credit card statement within one to three weeks after your rental ends.[13]
  • Find a rental

Turo logo

Turo

  • Toll program: Varies by the host; you may either borrow the host’s transponder (if one is required in the rental area) or pay all of the tolls yourself as you travel.[23]
  • Participating areas: Vary by the host[23]
  • Cost: Equal to the cost of any tolls you incur using the host’s transponder or via license plate capture; Turo also charges a 3% fee if its customer service department has to intervene in a toll reimbursement request.[23]
  • Payment processing: You should reimburse the host for any tolls billed to them as soon as possible. Hosts have 180 days after the rental ends to submit a reimbursement request for toll costs. If you receive a reimbursement request, you have 48 hours to either pay it or dispute it.[23]
  • Find a rental

Zipcar logo

Zipcar

  1. https://www.alamo.com/en/customer-support/car-rental-faqs/toll-fees.html[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
  2. https://www.avis.com/en/products-and-services/services/avis-e-toll[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
  3. https://www.paylesscar.com/en/products-and-services/services/e-toll[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
  4. SIXT location customer service representatives[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
  5. https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/productservice/index.jsp?targetPage=USplatepass.jsp[↩][↩][↩][↩]
  6. https://www.dollar.com/travelcenter/traveltools/platepass.aspx[↩][↩]
  7. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/tollpage/t1part3.cfm[↩][↩][↩]
  8. ACE Rent A Car customer service via live chat[↩]
  9. https://www.acerentacar.com/Locations[↩][↩][↩][↩]
  10. ACE Rent A Car location customer service representatives[↩][↩][↩]
  11. https://www.alamo.com/en/customer-support/car-rental-faqs/toll-fees/chicago.html[↩]
  12. https://www.budget.com/en/products-services/services/e-toll[↩][↩]
  13. https://www.platepass.com/faq/[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
  14. https://www.enterprise.com/en/help/faqs/car-rental-toll-pass.html[↩][↩]
  15. https://www.enterprise.com/en/help/faqs/car-rental-toll-pass/northeast-united-states.html[↩][↩][↩]
  16. https://www.enterprise.com/en/help/faqs/car-rental-toll-pass/chicago.html[↩]
  17. https://www.foxrentacar.com/en/faqs.html[↩][↩][↩]
  18. https://platepass.com/fox/[↩][↩]
  19. https://help.getaround.com/hc/en-us/articles/205340060-Tolls[↩][↩][↩][↩]
  20. https://www.nationalcar.com/en/support/car-rental-faqs/use-toll-lanes.html[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
  21. https://www.sixt.com/help-center/articles/prepaid-tolls/#/[↩][↩][↩][↩]
  22. https://www.thrifty.com/travelcenter/traveltools/platepass.aspx[↩][↩][↩][↩]
  23. https://help.turo.com/paying-tolls-Hy7iAfyhi[↩][↩][↩][↩]
  24. https://support.zipcar.com/hc/en-us/articles/220278288–Is-a-toll-pass-included-in-my-Zipcar-[↩]
  25. https://support.zipcar.com/hc/en-us/articles/220278288–Is-a-toll-pass-included-in-my-Zipcar-)
  26. Cost: Amount of the toll((https://support.zipcar.com/hc/en-us/articles/220278288–Is-a-toll-pass-included-in-my-Zipcar-[↩]

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